@ Jeff Zero - Does it console to know that I didn't even know they were breaking up? Sigh.

In Japan concerts start early and finish by 11pm for some reason that I'm not quite sure about considering bars open until 5am and there's always someone singing karaoke somewhere. Bands all start exactly when they're scheduled to and play for exactly as long as they are meant to. Incedentally the one time I saw NIN they were over an hour late but the ridiculous light show they spent that time setting up was probably worth it.

Recently I saw Zazen Boys (who I stuck over in the non-english music thread) play in Tomakomai, Hokkaido. Tomakomai is not a big city and has precisely no music scene and possibly no music venues, so they played in a rehearsal space over a music store. Since they're a pretty major indie artist, who usually play a mid-size touring venue in a major city it was pretty fucking spectacular, and would've been one of the best shows I'd ever seen if they hadn't ended on a formless five minute jam, and if I hadn't seen them give one of the best performances I've ever seen, at an outdoor festival last summer. Oh man! I just looked on youtube and they played America this year and last year, I'm sure they were just playing bars so if they tour again they're really worth seeing:

I also saw a band called Mass of the Fermenting Dregs a couple of months ago at one of the loudest concerts I've ever had the pleasure to attend. Really, four days of hearing damage and my own voice distorting in my ears when I spoke. They were incredible too, and they're playing the 4am sunrise slot at a big two day festival I'm going to this week. It's all Japanese artists which makes me check out a lot of new music, plus I can see Polysics, Midori and Capsule who I love.

Iron Maiden popped my stadium gig cherry last summer and boy, did it work. Usually I can't stand big venues due to the lack of any kind of intimacy, but hearing 40000 people belt out all the songs at pretty much the same volume as the band on stage was bloody thrilling.

I caught Wilco and Connor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band at the Lowell Spinner's baseball field about a month ago,

It was a gorgeous night, and then, over the 12 minute course of "spiders (kidsmoke)," a few raindrops started falling down, gradually building in frequency over that time. Jeff Tweedy got the audience to clap along with the beat, and then the band cut out, leaving just the clapping audience for almost 90 seconds. The raindrops started falling faster, more frequently during this section, and then right when the band kicked back in with the final chorus-y guitar riff, the sky exploded into a veritable monsoon. They played "Hummingbird" with rain flying in every direction, went offstage, and came back for an encore of "I'm the Man Who Loves You" while the road crew pretty much held tarps over them. Nels Cline was using a towel to both play his guitar, AND keep it dry. They were going to play more but...well, the threat of electrocution was pretty large by this point. And as cool as it would be to have been there on the day Jeff Tweedy died in the middle of a song, I would much rather, ya know, he not actually die.

The ending of that night could not possibly have been more epic.

I also went a free concert at Government Center in Boston a few weeks back. Passion Pit, whose album I very much enjoy (and I apparently started college with the singer?), was pretty awful. The singer couldn't keep his voice up at all (same goes for Gaslight Anthem, who played later, and whom I enjoy). To make up for it, there were a bunch of Bro Dudes/Ya Dudes who were tough guy dancing to Passion Pit. I'm pretty sure these guys would have looked more in place at a Nickelback show, so seeing them groove to some electropop was fantastic. That same night, I was quite impressed by Ra Ra Riot and the Airborne Toxic Event, neither of whom I had ever heard before.

@taphead: I would highly recommend FLIGHT 666 to relive the experience. I took my 11 year-old son to see Maiden in New Jersey last year, his first concert. His world suddenly became much bigger that day.

I was there too and yes...Passion Pit was indeed disappointingly terrible. I suspected before the show and know it well enough now that they're more of a studio-band, relying on production for their sound. That's all well and good for some bands or performers i like, but those will change it up/mix it up for a live performance or effortlessly duplicate/replicate what was recorded. I saw Cut Copy live a few months ago and THAT'S how you do the electro-dance-pop-rock-whatever live...even if it was done by New Order 20 years ago already, but at least Cut Copy have apparently studied their predecessors. :P

I was also impressed with Ra Ra Riot that day and i enjoyed Metric's low-key set of piano/guitar. I didn't stay for the rest of the bands.

So far this summer i've seen that (the city hall concerts) and:

The Veils - T.T. the Bears (very good, but unfortunately too brief since another band headlined)Slim Cessna's Auto Club - T.T.the Bears (funny, dynamic, loud, entertaining..."This is How We Do Things in the Country" indeed...)Jason Bennett and the Resistance - Middle East Upstairs (local punk rockers still hammering it out)White Rabbits - Middle East Downstairs (not bad! reminded me of early Spoon)

I REALLY wanted to see the local art-punk-cabaret-duo of Humanwine a couple months ago but i didn't tear myself away from studying that evening. Harumph.

this thread makes me sad that i have no shows to look forward to for a while. im sure i will end up at some random local stuff, but you all know there is a difference between "hey its friday and some random japanese band is playing down at the art space, lets check it out" and "holy shit man, ive been waiting weeks to see a band whose records i actually listen to!"

Heh, well, it was my PLAN to go see them, but then I ate a large dinner and my couch and boyfriend were both incredibly comfortable, plus my astronomy professor ended up on the Colbert Report so I felt obligated to stay and watch that.